A planet larger than Earth could be hiding in the cold, dark depths
of the solar system. The presence of the planet, which would lie far
beyond Pluto, is betrayed by the curious orbits of a handful of distant
icy worlds.

February 24, 2016 - SPACE - French scientists say they may be one step closer to locating a
mysterious ninth planet, after cutting their search area in half. US
astronomers earlier said the solar system’s 'Planet Nine' might exist,
but conceded they had no idea where it could be.

After studying data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn, French researcher Jacques Laskar of the Paris Observatory stated on Tuesday that a ninth planet may indeed exist in the outer reaches of our solar system, but “not just anywhere,” AFP reported.

Using mathematical modeling, Laskar and his colleagues calculated what influence the ninth planet would have on the movement of other planets as it passed nearby. They studied the orbit postulated by the US astronomers, on the assumption that the planet would circle the Sun in a lop-sided, highly elongated, oval loop.

Called extreme Kuiper Belt Objects, the misbehaving bodies trace odd
circles around the sun that have puzzled scientists for years.

The findings were published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

At its most distant position from the Sun, the planet would be too far away for any effect on other planets to be detectable, which limits astronomers to a searchable zone which represents only about half of the 10,000-20,000-year orbit.

The team has, however, managed to reduce the search area by 50 percent, by eliminating two zones in which they say the modeling does not match reality.

WATCH: Evidence of Planet X.

"We have cut the work in half," Laskar said. The researchers believe the search can be further narrowed if Cassini's mission, which is due to end next year, is extended to 2020. However, scientists believe it will take years to find Planet Nine, if it exists at all.

The French team's conclusions come just one month after California Institute of Technology scientists Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown predicted the existence of Planet Nine, which is thought to have a mass 10 times the size of Earth. The two scientists used mathematical modeling and computer simulations to predict its existence, which is thought to explain the strange clumping behavior of a group of dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt, a field of icy objects and debris beyond Neptune.

It’s tantalizing evidence that a ninth large planet might live in the solar system, though the world hasn’t been detected yet.

Although Planet Nine's existence has yet to be confirmed, the discovery of Neptune took place in a similar way in 1845, when French mathematician Urbain Le Verrier noticed that the orbit of Uranus didn’t exactly follow the orbit predicted by Newton’s law of gravity. In short, this is because the yet-to-be-discovered Neptune had a gravitational pull on Uranus.

Although Pluto was previously considered the ninth planet, it was demoted to “dwarf planet” status about a decade ago, as it possesses different characteristics than the other major planets of the solar system. The charge to demote Pluto was led by the same scientists who announced the possibility of Planet Nine's existence. - RT.

February 24, 2016 - SPACE - An asteroid roughly 100 feet long and moving at more than 34,000 mph is scheduled to make a close pass by Earth in two weeks.

But don't worry, scientists say. It has no chance of hitting us, and may instead help draw public attention to growing efforts at tracking the thousands of asteroids zooming around space that could one day wipe out a city -- or worse -- if they ever hit our planet.

This one, known as 2016 TX68, is larger than an 18-wheel tractor trailer truck, and is expected to fly as close as 19,245 miles to Earth at 4:06 pm Pacific time on Monday, March 7. For comparison, that's less than one-tenth as far as the moon is from Earth, or 238,900 miles.

"It's gonna be close. But it's going to miss us. There is nothing to worry about," said Gerald McKeegan, an astronomer at Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.

The distance of the March fly-by, which could end up being as far as 10.7 million miles away because researchers have not yet settled on its precise orbit, is also potentially closer to Earth than many of our weather and communications satellites, which orbit at 22,236 miles up in space.

It will not be visible to the naked eye. But if it comes in at the closest estimated distance, it will be the first time an asteroid that big has come that close to Earth in three years, since one at least 130 feet long zipped within 25,560 miles of Earth on Feb. 15, 2013.

This asteroid, which was discovered just three years ago, takes an egg-shaped lap around the sun, traveling as far out as an area between Mars and Jupiter, every 780 days.

The odds of it hitting Earth on its next pass, on Sept. 28, 2017, are 1-in-250-million, according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Fly-bys in 2046 and 2097, when it comes near Earth again, have an even lower risk.

"The possibilities of collision on any of the three future fly-by dates are far too small to be of any real concern," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. "I fully expect any future observations to reduce the probability even more."

In recorded human history, so far, mankind has dodged a bullet. But asteroids have bombarded Earth for billions of years.

Asteroid 2013 TX68 could fly past Earth as far as 14,000,000 km or as close as 17,000 km.

Roughly 66 million years ago, one estimated at 5 miles across hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, causing a cataclysmic explosion, mile-high tsunamis, earthquakes, immense fires, and clouds of global dust that blocked out the sun for years. The event, near the present-day town of Chicxulub, is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs. It left a crater 12 miles deep and 110 miles wide.

On a much smaller scale, in 1908, an explosion in the air over Siberia, believed to have been caused by an asteroid or small comet, leveled 500,000 acres of forest and caused a shock wave equal to a 5.0 earthquake, but resulted in no recorded deaths due to its distant wilderness location.

"Earth is very much part of a cosmic shooting gallery. You never know on a given day what kind of chunks might intersect the Earth's atmosphere," said Andrew Fraknoi, astronomy chairman at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills.

"Most of them burn up miles above us," he said. "But every once in awhile, they make a splash."

In 2013, a meteor about 50 feet across exploded in the air above Chelyabinsk, Russia. It caused a fireball and shock wave that damaged 7,000 buildings and injured about 1,500 people, mostly from falling glass.

In this frame grab made from a
video done with a dashboard camera a meteor streaks through the sky
over Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow,
Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. A meteor that scientists estimate weighed 10 tons
(11 tons) streaked at supersonic speed over Russia's Ural Mountains on
Friday, setting off blasts that injured some 500 people and frightened
countless more. (AP Photo/AP Video)

Scientists estimate that asteroids the size of one in 1908 Siberia -- about 200 to 600 feet across -- only impact Earth once every few centuries.

The good news is that in 1998, NASA told Congress it would try and find 90 percent of the asteroids larger than 1 kilometer, or about 3,280 feet wide, that could potentially hit Earth. By 2010, NASA said it accomplished that goal and now tracks those potential "civilization busters." None are on course to hit Earth during the next century.

But there are countless smaller asteroids roughly the size of next month's or larger, which have gone undetected. NASA has boosted funding to search, some asteroid scientists say a dedicated space telescope is needed to learn more. If a big one ever was headed for Earth, and we had enough time, a spacecraft could potentially be built to nudge it out of the way.

"From what we know today, we are in the clear for at least 100 years," said Chabot's McKeegan. "There will be some close approaches, and there are some that have very small chances -- tiny fractions of a percent -- to hit us. We've been lucky so far, but there's a million that we haven't found yet." - Mercury News.

All are feared dead after a Tara Air plane carrying 23 people -- two of
them babies -- crashed Wednesday morning in mountainous northern Nepal
midway through what should have been a 19-minute flight, officials said.

February 24, 2016 - EARTH - Here are the latest incidents of plane crashes across the planet.

Nepal passenger plane crash kills all 23 on board

A small passenger plane has crashed in mountainous western Nepal, killing all 23 people on board.

The Twin Otter aircraft, operated by Tara Air, was travelling from Pokhara to Jomsom and lost contact with the control tower shortly after taking off.

Most of those on board were Nepalis. It is not clear what caused the crash.

The plane was carrying three crew and 20 passengers, one of them Chinese and one Kuwaiti. Nepal's aviation industry has a poor safety record.

According to Sanjiv Gautam, director general of Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority, the plane's wreckage was found near the village of Dana in Myagdi district.

Earlier he told the BBC Nepali Service that the aircraft had lost
contact with the control tower at Pokhara 10 minutes after take-off.

Most of the 19 bodies retrieved as of early Wednesday evening were
charred beyond recognition, said Bishwa Raj Khadka,
deputy police
superintendent for Myagdi district.

The identities of those on board have yet to be released. Two of those on board were children.

Three
helicopters were sent to search for the missing plane, Tara Air said on
its website, adding that "the weather at both origin and destination
airports was favourable" for the 20-minute flight.

Nepal's army said, however, that fog had hampered the search for the aircraft.

"It
looks like the plane crashed into the hillside. The wreckage was still
in flames when the team arrived," chief district officer Sagar Mani
Pathak told AFP news agency.

Pokhara
is a resort town some 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of the capital
Kathmandu. Jomsom, a short distance further north, is the starting point
for many people trekking in the Himalayas.

Nepal has a limited road network and many areas are accessible only on foot or by air.

Tara Air uses Twin Otters and other planes on its routes in Nepal (AFP file photo)

Location of the plane crash.

Relatives waited for information at Pokhara airport. EPA

Since 1949, the year the first aircraft landed in Nepal, there have been more than 70 different crashes involving planes and helicopters, in which more than 700 people have been killed.
Most accidents have been attributed to bad weather, inexperienced pilots and inadequate maintenance.

In 2013, the European Union banned all Nepalese airlines from flying to its territory for safety reasons. - BBC.

Small plane crashes in Palatka backyard, Florida

Photo Courtesy: Jessica Clark, FCN

The pilot of a small plane that had crashed into the backyard of a home Tuesday morning in Palatka was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, authorities said.

The plane went down about 11:15 a.m., coming to a final rest in the yard of a home on Oleander Drive off Dogwood Lane, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Richard Jackson, the homeowner where the plane crashed, spoke to First Coast News.

"I was standing in my backyard and all of a sudden I heard what sounded like an explosion," Jackson said. "I looked up and here comes a plane crashing down out of the sky with a parachute behind it. It landed in my backyard."

The pilot, 62-year-old David Thomas of Apex, North Carolina, suffered minor injuries in the crash, troopers said. He was flying from Raleigh, N.C. to Leesburg when he started having engine trouble, according to FHP.

Thomas was forced to deploy his plane's parachute to assist in the landing.

The homeowner says Thomas was released from the hospital on Tuesday afternoon and he told her that the parachute saved his life. - FCN.

Video captures plane crashing into California street

A small plane crashed in Pacoima near Whiteman Airport on Feb. 22, 2016. (Credit: KTLA)

Dramatic new video captured the moment a small plane crashed onto a busy street in Pacoima, California.

A small plane made a crash landing on a street in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. The pilot managed to walk away without any injuries.

The plane came down just outside Whiteman Airport, plowing into several parked cars and ripping off one of the plane's wings.

No word yet as to what forced the pilot to make the unusual landing. Thankfully, no one on the ground was hurt either. - WIBW.

Student missing after plane crashes into Long Island Sound

The plane in which Gerson Salmon-Negron (left) was a passenger when it
crashed into the Long Island Sound is lifted out of Setauket Harbor.
Photo: Facebook ; Victor Alcorn

A student pilot was at the controls of the Piper Archer four-seater when it began experiencing engine trouble Saturday night, authorities said. The instructor quickly took over, but was forced to land the plane in Setauket Harbor, about 60 miles east of New York City, around 11:05 p.m., officials said.

The student pilot, Austricio Ramirez, the instructor, Nelson Gomez, and their passengers, Wady Perez and Gerson Salmon-Negron, were able to escape the wreckage in the dark water — but chaos soon ensued, authorities said.

Suffolk County Police Officer Christopher Draskin told The Post that he and other cops heard screaming from where they were onshore and were trying to figure out what to do when they “miraculously happened upon three kayaks” nearby.

They paddled out into the middle of the channel and found two of the men frantically treading water and yelling. Only one of them was wearing a life jacket.

The officers were unable to pull the two men into their kayaks and instead had to tow them to shore through the cold water.

The third rescued man was later found swimming toward shore and rescued.

Pastor gives up flying after surviving 3rd plane crash

Photo courtesy WOOD-TV

A retired pastor from Michigan has told his wife that he is giving up piloting after surviving his third plane crash.

According to a report recently released from the National
Transportation Safety Board, 67-year-old Steven Stam’s single-engine
plane ended up crashed on Interstate 80 near
Laramie, Wyoming. Stam stopped just short of colliding with a canyon
wall.

Stam has survived two crashes prior to this incident. In 2009, he
crashed at Park Township Airport. And in July 2015, Stam landed his
plane on a Lake Michigan beach in Ottawa County Township.

The pilot of 22 years told The Detroit News Friday that he broke his
back in the latest crash and informed his wife that he’d be giving up
flying. - WNCN.

Pilot dies in small aircraft crash in Union County

One person was believed killed in a Union County plane crash Thursday, Feb. 18.
WBTV

Carol Houtzel was at home when the plane crashed into her front yard, damaging her sport utility vehicle parked in the driveway.

"We just all looked at each other like, 'What happened?' And I ran out on the deck and I looked over the edge and there was a tail of a plane in my front yard," Houtzel told Local 10 News reporter Derek Shore.

A neighbor said she saw the plane fly by low to the ground and then circle back, as if the pilot "thought this was the landing strip." She said the wing of the plane clipped a mailbox and a basketball hoop.

Neighbors and first responders helped free the pilot, who was hanging upside down.

1 dead in small aircraft crash at Buckeye airport

One person was killed when a small aircraft crashed at Buckeye Municipal Airport Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The
pilot, 55-year-old James George III of North Dakota, had been the only
person aboard the single-engine Evolution REVO light sport aircraft when
it went down, according to an Federal Aviation Administration official.
George was taking off from Buckeye.

The owners of the aircraft were not involved with the crash, police said.

Authorities
said that the police department, FAA and National Transportation Safety
Board are working together in investigating the incident. - AZ Central.

Three involved, at least one injured in Robertson County plane crash

Blackjack Volunteer Fire Department Photo

The Robertson County Sheriff's Office has confirmed to KBTX that a plane has crashed in the county.
Reports indicate the crash happened on private property near the intersection of Jack Rabbit Lane and OSR.

Sheriff Gerald Yezak says three people were involved in
the crash. According to DPS, the pilot suffered a non-life threatening
head injury and was taken to the hospital. Two passengers were able to
walk away from the crash. One of the three called 911 to report the
crash.

According to DPS, the small plane was coming from
Arlington and its destination was College Station. In the crash, the
wing was severed, and the plane crashed sideways.

Three people make lucky escape after plane crash at Bembridge Airport on Isle of Wight

The Reims-Cessna F172M Skyhawk light aircraft at Bembridge Airport on the Isle of WightPhoto: Darren Toogood/Solent

A pilot and two passengers were lucky to
escape serious injury today when their light aircraft crashed and rolled
on to its roof as it came in to land.

Emergency services, including fire appliances and paramedics, rushed to
the scene at 11.30am after reports there were three casualties on board
the four-seater, single engine plane.

However, the trio miracuolously walked away from the crash at Bembridge
Airport, Isle of Wight, only requiring treatment by paramedics at the
scene for shock and some cuts.

An Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said: "We attended a light aircraft crash which was on its roof.

"There were three casualties, which were walking wounded."

She added three appliances were called to the scene, in addition to a
two special appliances, but no fuel was spilled from the Reims-Cessna
F172M Skyhawk.

Air traffic investigators have been contacted about the accident.

Bembridge Airport is an unlicensed airfield managed by the Vectis
Gliding Club, meaning it is not open to commercial or training flights
and visiting pilots require prior permission to land there. - Telegraph.

The comments came ahead of his Budget speech, in which he cut the country's growth forecast for 2016 to 0.9%, down from 1.7%.

He conceded the economy was struggling with shrinking growth, 25% unemployment, and widespread poverty.

The South African currency, the rand, which has halved over the past five years, fell after the speech.

It dropped 2.25% to make one rand worth around $0.0639.

In a briefing ahead of the Budget, Mr Gordhan said: "There is no doubt about the fact that we are in crisis."

The measures announced in Parliament were aimed at stopping the country falling into recession and to appease the rating agencies who have threatened to downgrade South Africa to junk status, which would raise borrowing costs for the country.

Mr Gordhan unveiled government spending cuts, a civil service job freeze and some moderate tax rises.

These tax increases affect property sales, fuel, sugary drinks, alcohol, tobacco and and capital gains, as well as environmental levies, which are expected to bring in an extra 18bn rand ($1.18bn; £840m).

He had been expected to announce plans on privatising state assets - he fell short of that but said the government was looking at the possibility of merging the loss-making national carrier, South African Airways, with the state-owned SA Express airline "with a view to engaging with a potential minority equity partner".

Privatisation has long been resisted by sections of the ruling African National Congress.

Pravin Gordhan cut growth forecasts in his 2016 Budget speech

Mr Gordhan was blunt on his outlook for the country.

"We cannot spend money we do not have. We cannot borrow beyond our ability to repay. Until we ignite growth and generate more revenue we have to be tough on ourselves."

Maike Currie, investment director at Fidelity International, said she was unsure if the measures announced would stop the rating agencies cutting their outlook for the country, as they have warned: "There was no increase in VAT, which has remained unchanged at 14% for two decades now, or income tax hike as the finance minister looked to moderate the impact of tax increases on struggling South African households amid a testing economic backdrop.

"Whether this will be enough to appease rating agencies and businesses, however remains to be seen".

She added that it was interesting that Mr Gordhan had focused on cutting down government spending without enforcing austerity measures on everyday South Africans, such as raising income tax.

Analysis: Lerato Mbele, presenter, Africa Business Report:
In his Budget speech, South Africa's finance minister Pravin Gordhan was cautiously optimistic and realistic about the challenges facing the country.

He spoke about the need to tackle wasteful expenditure and was candid about corruption.

The most blatant example of misuse of public funds is the Nkandla scandal where officials used taxpayers money to renovate the president's private country home.

His strategy seems to be that of spending less in order to save more.

The minister said that his focus will be to reduce the government deficit to 3.2% this year, and over the next three years.

The rand weakened after he had finished speaking which suggests the markets are not convinced that the minister has a recovery plan that will lift growth and convince the ratings agencies before they take a decision around May or June.

Concern
The ruling ANC party faces municipal elections later this year and much was riding on this Budget to turn the economic situation around. Although the country is rich in mineral resources it has been hit hard by the fall in global commodity prices. South Africa's farmers have also been hit by the worst drought in more than a century.

Last December, President Jacob Zuma shocked the nation and the business community by suddenly replacing the well-respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene with an ally and backbencher David Van Rooyen.

The markets took a dim view, with foreign investors withdrawing money and there were complaints within his own ruling African National Congress party.

Four days later President Zuma did a U turn and re-appointed Mr Gordhan who had served as finance minister for five years to 2014. - BBC.

February 24, 2016 - UNITED STATES - President Obama is planning a trip to Cuba in March, marking the first time in more than 80 years a sitting U.S. president will visit the country, according to sources with knowledge of the plan.

The president officially announced his trip via Twitter on Thursday morning.

In a post detailing the trip on Medium, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said the president is traveling to Cuba to press for more reforms, noting that while advancements have been made, "still, this progress is insufficient."

"There is much more that can be done -- by the United States, and by the Cuban government -- to advance this opening in ways that will be good for Cubans, and good for the United States. That is why President Obama is traveling to Cuba," Rhodes wrote. "We want to open up more opportunities for U.S. businesses and travelers to engage with Cuba, and we want the Cuban government to open up more opportunities for its people to benefit from that engagement."

The trip is planned for March 21-22 before the president flies to Argentina on March 23-24. During the trip to Cuba, President Obama is set to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro. The two men first met face-to-face during a summit in Panama last year.

First Lady Michelle Obama will travel with the president to Cuba, and the First Family will join him in Argentina.

The move comes roughly 15 months following the president's pledge with Raul Castro to reopen diplomatic channels following a prisoner exchange and the humanitarian release of U.S. contractor Alan Gross in December 2014.

Since the announcement, the two countries have had a series of diplomatic talks, leading to the reopening of embassies last summer and the recent deal restoring commercial air traffic.

The last and only sitting U.S. president to visit the island nation only 90 miles south of the Florida keys was Calvin Coolidge, in 1928, to address the Sixth Annual International Conference of American States in Havana.

He met with Cuba's President Gerardo Machado, who was in office from 1925 to 1933, until he was forced into exile.

President Jimmy Carter traveled to Cuba in 2002, 20 years after leaving office, at the invitation of President Fidel Castro.

Obama takes last chance to close Guantanamo Bay

In
this Nov. 21, 2013, file photo reviewed by the U.S. military, dawn
arrives at the now closed Camp X-Ray, which was used as the first
detention facility for al-Qaida andTaliban militants who were captured
after the Sept. 11 attacks at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. U.S.
officials say the Pentagonís long-awaited plan to shut down the
detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer the remaining
detainees to a facility in the U.S. calls for up to $475 million in
construction costs, but would save as much as $180 million per year in
operating costs.(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)

Keeping the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay open is "contrary to our values," President Obama
said Tuesday, as he released a plan that examined 13 potential sites
for transferring the suspected terrorists but did not propose any
specific location.

His plan sets up a last-year confrontation with Congress about a campaign promise made eight years ago. Terrorists use Guantanamo as propaganda to recruit, and maintaining it harms U.S. national security, he said.

The plan has three elements beyond closing the prison, Obama said. More detainees will be safely transferred, reviewing the threat posed by detainees who are not eligible for transfer, and identifying those eligible for military trials.

“This plan has my full support," Obama said.

Obama said closing Guantanamo was something his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, supported, as did his 2008 Republican challenge, Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Since then, however, the politics have got in the way, he said.

Obama said he was "very clear-eyed" about the challenges of closing Guantanamo. "If it were easy it would have happened years ago," he said.

McCain, who now chairs the Armed Services Committee, called the plan flimsy and said his committee would hold hearings on it soon.

“What we received today is a vague menu of options, not a credible plan for closing Guantanamo, let alone a coherent policy to deal with future terrorist detainees,” McCain said in a statement. “After years of rhetoric, the president has still yet to say how and where he will house both current and future detainees, including those his administration has deemed as too dangerous to release.”

McCain said Obama had missed “a major chance to convince the Congress and the American people that he has a responsible plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.”

The plan does not indicate the prisons in the United States under consideration to transfer detainees, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

“The administration seeks an active dialogue with Congress on this issue and looks forward to working with Congress to identify the most appropriate location as soon as possible,” Cook said.

The report looked at existing facilities in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado, as well as new facilities at unnamed military bases across the country.

It would cost $290 million to $475 million for the Department of Defense to renovate an existing state or federal prison, which would be dedicated to holding only Defense detainees, the official said. But the Pentagon estimates it could save $65 million to $85 million a year, recouping the one-time costs in about five years, though the official said the numbers are "somewhat rough and notional” because Congress has not appropriated the money necessary to do a complete site assessment.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that the Pentagon report "will make a compelling case that closing the prison is clearly in our national security interest, but also will reflect the need for the United States government to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars."

There are 91 detainees remaining in the prison; each one costs about $4 million per year.

"There is far too much money that is spent to operate that prison when there are more cost-effective alternatives available. And we certainly would like to work with the Congress to make those alternatives a reality because we know that those alternatives don't weaken our national security. In fact, they strengthen it. They enhance it," Earnest said. "And it would take away — by closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay — a chief recruiting tool that we know is used by terrorist organizations about the world."

The plan, released Tuesday morning, anticipates that a "limited number" of detainees will not be eligible for transfer to other countries

"For these detainees, the administration intends to work with the Congress to relocate them from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to an appropriate site in the continental United States while continuing to identify other appropriate and lawful dispositions," the plan says.

Guantanamo Bay, located on the eastern edge of Cuba, has housed prisoners taken captive in war on terror since 2002. Since it exists on a base on Cuban soil but held by the United States under a 113-year-old lease, the prisoners are in what some human rights organizations call a "legal black hole."

But transferring them to U.S. soil would not necessarily change their legal status. A previous legal opinion from the Pentagon found that the 2001 legislation authorizing the global war on terror allows them to be held as combatants as long as hostilities remain.

There were 242 detainees still in the Guantanamo Bay prison when Obama took office in 2009, down from a high of almost 700. That number has dwindled over the years as the Pentagon has transferred lower-risk detainees to other countries — meaning that the prisoners who remain tend to be considered higher security risks.

Of the 91 detainees remaining, 35 are eligible to be transferred to other countries as long as those countries can demonstrate that they can hold the prisoners without risk. Another 10 await trial by a military court, and 46 are still being evaluated.

Current law prohibits the president from transferring the Guantanamo Bay detainees to U.S. soil, where there are only a handful of maximum-security prisons deemed appropriate to house them. Congress also added a provision to the defense policy bill signed by Obama last year requiring the administration to put forward a plan for transferring the remaining detainees to prisons in the United States.

House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the plan, saying it did not make a convincing case that moving detainees to the United States was "smart or safe." The plan did not provide details required by law about the cost and location of the U.S. prison.

"Congress has left no room for confusion," Ryan said in a statement. "It is against the law — and it will stay against the law — to transfer terrorist detainees to American soil. We will not jeopardize our national security over a campaign promise.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the House, called the administration's proposal a "strong, detailed plan" to close Guantanamo.

“The reality is Guantanamo hurts, rather than advances our efforts to keep America safe and combat terrorism abroad," Pelosi said in a statement. "Closing the detention facility at Guantanamo will strengthen our national security and affirm our values and laws. It is disappointing that Republicans have worked to prevent the long-overdue closure of the Guantanamo facility." - USA Today.

The latest version of ATLAS getting violently poked with a hockey stick and maintaining his balance (Boston Dynamics)

February 24, 2016 - TECHNOLOGY - Boston Dynamics has a new video showing off the
latest version of Atlas—the badass humanoid robot. And it’s pretty
incredible.

The latest version of ATLAS getting violently poked with a hockey stick and maintaining his balance (Boston Dynamics)

The most striking thing about this new version is the
amazing balance Atlas achieves. I’ve never seen a humanoid robot with
this kind of agility.

The latest version of ATLAS picking up 10 pound boxes and placing them on a shelf (Boston Dynamics)

This version of Atlas can not only walk over rough terrain, but he
can squat and pick up boxes. You can even push Atlas violently with a
hockey stick and he’ll maintain his balance. And his most incredible
accomplishment? He can stand up after falling down.

When I was in Pomona, California for the DARPA Robotics Challenge
this past summer one of the most difficult things that all the
competing teams faced was simply keeping their robots upright. Remember
all those funny gifs or robots awkwardly falling down?

They couldn’t
pick themselves back up.

An ATLAS robot falling down at the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge

Many teams used the Atlas body—with their own software and
alterations—and whenever an Atlas version fell over, the team would have
to reset and start the robot from the beginning of the course.

Not anymore:

The latest version of ATLAS picking himself up after falling (Boston Dynamics)

From Boston Dynamics (a subsidiary of Alphabet Co., formerly known as Google):

A new version of Atlas, designed to operate outdoors and
inside buildings. It is electrically powered and hydraulically actuated.
It uses sensors in its body and legs to balance and LIDAR and stereo
sensors in its head to avoid obstacles, assess the terrain and help with
navigation. This version of Atlas is about 5' 9" tall (about a head
shorter than the DRC Atlas) and weighs 180 lbs.

I just hope that future history books don’t refer to that violent hockey stick push as the start of the robot revolution.

Update, 10:17pm: Remember when the raptors learned how to open doors in Jurassic Park?

February 24, 2016 - UNITED STATES - Health officials are investigating 14 new cases of possible
sexual transmission of the Zika virus in the United States, including
several cases involving pregnant women, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) reported.

In two of the new suspected sexual transmission cases that have been investigated, Zika virus infection has been "confirmed in women whose only known risk factor was sexual contact with an ill male partner who had recently traveled to an area with local Zika virus transmission," according to a CDC statement.

Tests have not been completed for their male partners yet. In all of the cases, travelers reported symptom onset within two weeks prior to their non-traveling female partner’s symptom onset, the agency said.

In four other cases, preliminary tests have indicated that women were infected, but confirmatory tests are still pending. Eight other cases are still being investigated, the CDC reported.

“Sexual transmission of Zika virus from infected women to their sex partners has not been documented, nor has transmission from persons who are asymptomatically infected,” the agency said.

So far, all of the 82 Zika infections diagnosed in the United States have involved people who traveled to outbreak regions. Earlier this week the CDC expanded its Zika travel advisory to two more destinations — the Marshall Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Zika virus is mainly spread by mosquito bites, and sexual transmission has been considered quite rare, with only two cases reported to date. Earlier this month, the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services announced an occurrence of sexually transmitted Zika infection in Texas.

The CDC has recommended that men who have recently been to a Zika outbreak area use a condom when they have sex with a pregnant women, or to abstain from sex during the pregnancy. It also said that pregnant women should postpone trips to over 30 destinations with outbreaks.

There is currently no vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus, which has already spread to over 30 countries in the Americas. Earlier this month the WHO declared the outbreak an international health emergency.

Although there's no definitive proof that it directly causes birth defects, scientists believe Zika could be linked to microcephaly (or abnormally small heads) in newborns, as well as to a serious neurological disorder in adults called Guillain-Barre syndrome. In most people Zika causes no symptoms at all or only mild ones that last about a week such as fever, joint pain, rash and red eyes. - RT.

February 24, 2016 - LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES - Spectacular images and video footage of three simultaneous
waterspouts over Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana emerged online
after multiple tornadoes hit the state.

The waterspouts were spotted moving northwards over the lake situated between New Orleans and Mandeville on Tuesday afternoon.

Social media users captured the weather phenomenon on their devices and lost no time in posting their photos, videos, and impressions on various social networks.

February 24, 2016 - UNITED STATES - Scientists and lawmakers foresee grim outlook for California’s ocean fisheries… the outlook is overwhelmingly grim, presenters said at an annual forum of the joint legislative Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture. “Something’s going on in the ocean, and it’s not right, and it doesn’t fit our historical understandings,” California Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham told members of the committe… Bonham noted stretches of coastline suddenly barren of sea urchins… [N]umerous anomalies… are growing increasingly apparent, Bonham said. “This should be an… alarm to the general public”… Bonham said… [S]everal witnesses Thursday forecast what most in the industry already have anticipated: a collapse, or near collapse, of key salmon runs in the state… “I cannot say this more bluntly,” [State Senator Mike McGuire] said. “We are facing a fishery disaster here in California”… U.S. Department of Commerce [is] considering a request by Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a fishery disaster… - Press Democrat.

California’s Crab and Salmon Fisheries Threatened By Historic Crisis… [O]fficials testified about the dire situation
that the salmon and crab fishery is in at a recent forum at the State
Capitol… “The salmon and crab fisheries are threatened by a historic crisis. We’re facing a fishery disaster” [said Senator Mike McGuire]… “We’ve gone from abundance to scarcity…
“During the last two years, we’ve lost over 95 percent of the
Sacramento River winter-run chinook and over 95 percent of the fall-run
Chinook.”… things are expected to be even worse this year… Something’s going on in the ocean — State officials and scientists spoke on the unprecedented changes in the ocean believed to be impacting crab, salmon and other fish populations… These include the massive deaths of sea stars, the decline of the squid fishery, the closure of the sardine fishery, the decline of kelp habitat and the loss of most of the red sea urchins north of San Francisco recently… - Ocean Beach Rag.

Ocean behavior alarming, puzzling… The following is one of several stories about the crab and fisheries calamities… [Bonham] testified that menacing changes are altering both marine biology and ecology and the changes do not fit historical understandings of ocean behavior. Bonham declared grimly, “This should be an exclamation alarm to the general public to stay aware and engaged in the ecological change going on in the ocean.”… [M]ost of the red urchin population has perished, moving from abundance to scarcity in just a few years. “Mile-long stretches of the North Coast [are] urchin barrens,” Bonham stated… There have emerged “very never-seen-before things“… The salmon outlook remains unfavorable… The Sacramento winter run “really raises the existential threat of extinction,” he testified… [T]oxic contamination generated by algal blooms may spread well beyond crabs and urchins, raising sinister unknowns, Bonham predicted warily. “Why not more and more species one right after another?” he asked… - Mad River Union.

Marine mammal strandings concern experts; A humpback whale that washed ashore in Seaside was one of several strandings…
In the past few weeks, a humpback whale washed ashore in Seaside, and a
harbor porpoise and two striped dolphins were found on the North Coast… - Daily Astorian.

A house near the intersection of Routes 70 and 1 is seen after a powerful tornado struck, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in Paincourtville, La. A suspected tornado ripped through
a Louisiana recreational vehicle park Tuesday, leaving a mangled mess of smashed trailers and killing at least one person, officials said. In neighboring Mississippi,
authorities said one person died when a possible tornado hit a mobile home. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP)

February 24, 2016 - UNITED STATES - A damaging storm system that spun off multiple
tornadoes from Louisiana to Florida killed at least three people and
critically injured at several others as it moved through the South, with
more twisters likely to come Wednesday along the Atlantic coast.

Two people were killed as a tornado touched down near the Sugar Hill RV Park northwest of the town of Convent, Louisiana. At least 30 people were treated at hospitals, seven of them in critical condition, said Brandon Keller, a spokesman for the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office.

A third person was killed in Lamar County, Mississippi, county Coroner Cody Creel told NBC News, identifying the man as Harris Dale Purvis, 73. The National Weather Service said radar indicated a possible tornado at the scene, where a mobile home was destroyed.

The system then crawled into southern Alabama and northern Florida late Tuesday.

A tornado injured six people and seriously damaged three buildings at an apartment complex in Pensacola, Florida, said Amanda Taft, a spokeswoman for the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners. The extent of the injuries wasn't immediately known, Taft told NBC News.

A home is damaged by the storm in Denham Springs, La. (@bfrougon/twitter.com)

Volunteers Percy Mitchell, 62, left, and Eugene Trice, 38, carry a ladder as they attempt to knock down bricks from the wall of the New Mount Bethel Baptist Church
which suffered weather damage in Kenner, Louisiana. (AP Photo/Max Becherer)

A home suffered substantial damage in LaPlace, Louisiana during Tuesday's storms. (Josh Hahling/twitter.com)

Family members pick up the pieces of a destroyed home at 166 Sones Road in Lamar County, Mississippi. (WDAM/Ryan Moore)

A car was thrown into a field near where a person was killed in Lamar County, Mississippi, during severe weather Tuesday evening. (WDAM/Ryan Moore)

Damage is seen in Sugar Hill RV Park in Convent, La. after a possible tornado struck the area. (Poche Post/Facebook)

The National Weather Service reported that a car was blown off Interstate 10 near Brent in Escambia County and that vehicles were overturned on other roads. The Florida Highway Patrol closed a 26-mile stretch of I-10 in Escambia and Okaloosa counties and urged motorists to stay home and off the roads.

NBC station WPMI of nearby Mobile, Alabama, reported that trees were also uprooted onto other roadways, blocking traffic and delaying the arrival of emergency crews. About 9,200 customers were without power in the Panhandle, Gulf Power said at 11:15 p.m. ET.

Behind the storm, the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi declared emergencies as recovery efforts got under way.

Almost 17,500 customers remained without power across Louisiana at 10:30 p.m. ET, Louisiana's seven main electric utilities reported. The state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness activated its crisis action team to coordinate responses.

At a news briefing Tuesday night, Willy Martin Jr., sheriff of St. James Parish, Louisiana, described a scene of massive destruction at the RV park in Convent — "almost like something exploded."

About 300 people live in about 160 trailers on the site, and at least one remained unaccounted for Tuesday night, Martin said. He urged residents to call in and report that they're OK.

After visiting the scene Tuesday night, Gov. John Bel Edwards marveled at the "awesome destructive powers that tornadoes have."

"It is a jumbled mess," Edwards said. "These travel trailers were picked up, moved a considerable distance and really blown apart, torn apart. There are heavy-duty F350 pickup trucks back there that were just mangled."

Edwards called it a "minor miracle" that only two people were killed.

WATCH: Extreme weather hits southern United States.

Assumption Parish Sheriff's Deputy Robert Martin told NBC News that one person was reported injured amid moderate to severe damage from a tornado that destroyed a parish water tower. The parish emergency management agency issued a notice for all residents to boil their water as a safety measure.

"It was just raining like a regular day, and then we heard, like, a whistle, like a train, and that's when everything started," said Kenneth Rodrigue of Belle Rose in Assumption Parish.

No injuries were reported in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, where a tornado damaged a few cars in a lot west of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, according to the National Weather Service. No flights were directly affected, but the airport said Tuesday afternoon that some delays and cancellations were possible because of the bad weather in general.

In Ascension Parish, Louisiana, at least eight homes and businesses were damaged, said Meredith Conger, a planning officer with the parish's emergency management agency.

In addition to the five confirmed tornadoes, the National Weather Service was reviewing reports of three others, and government offices in 15 parishes closed early to get people home before the dangerous weather hit, Louisiana Administration Commissioner Jay Dardenne said.

The weather system is expected to move east into the Carolinas down to Florida on Wednesday, with the possibility of more tornadoes, forecasters said.

"This is one of the better tornado setups that we've had in this part of the country for a while," said Ari Sarsalari, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel.

In Atlanta, the South's biggest city, and areas north, "ingredients continue to be coming together for a potentially significant severe weather event," including isolated tornadoes, overnight into Wednesday, the National Weather Service said Tuesday evening. - NBC News.